What Yuigahama Yui Saw That Day
by ImaNukeYourFace
Summary: When they went shopping together for Yukinoshita's present that cold January morning, she never expected to see that. From Hikigaya of all people. 99% canon mini-drabble, told from Yuigahama's perspective. Oneshot.


Perhaps it was an illusion. A trick of the light, a product of her dopamine-overloaded brain. But if it was real-and Yuigahama personally believed it was-then it was something to be seen once in a lifetime. What she saw that day was less likely than a smile from Yukinoshita, stranger than a humble Miura, and rarer than a shiny Chansey. And she would never forget it.

They had met that cold winter morning in front of Chiba station, both Hikigayas standing together under the monorail breathing puffs of frosty breath as they waited. Yuigahama was slightly late, as she wanted to make sure she was ready before she left. Not that she was nervous or anything, no way, they were just going out to buy a present for Yukinoshita. Plus, as Yuigahama recalled from the day before, Komachi was going to accompany them along on their da-outing, it was an outing.

After the traditional "Yahallo!" the group made their way over to one of Chiba's many malls. As they walked and conversed, Yuigahama discovered that Komachi apparently shared an interest in fashion and clothes. Although, that was just with Komachi-whenever Yuigahama looked over, Hikki was dragging his feet behind them, so far back an observer probably couldn't even tell that they were all a group. Puffing her cheeks slightly, Yuigahama decided to ignore him if he was going to ignore them, and immersed herself in the unbridled joy of shopping.

What seemed like a few moments later, Yuigahama found herself abandoned. Glancing around, she could find neither hide nor hair of Komachi and Hikki. As she wandered with her arms full of clothes that she'd been looking at and trying on, she suddenly spotted Hikki coming around from a nearby store.

"Huh?" she asked. "Where did Komachi-chan go?"

"She wasn't with you?"

"I thought she was with you, Hikki…" Yuigahama replied as she leaned forward and searched Hikki's face for signs that he was lying. But why would Hikki lie about Komachi's disappearance? Wait, more importantly, it was now just the two of them… Yuigahama groaned as she tried to put the ensuing thoughts out of her head. Change the subject, change the subject… She looked down at the clothes in her hand. "I'm..kinda stuck right now, so I wanted Komachi-chan to take a look… Hikki, do you mind?"

"Only if you're okay with me not being useful," he grudgingly replied.

"Yeah-Wait! I need you to be useful here though…"

"We'll see."

Yuigahama had tried on a cardigan she'd picked out, but after Hikki realized that Yukinon probably wouldn't wear it to school, she decided to get something else for her. The reason she carefully folded and carried the cardigan under her arm was-well, she was short on cardigans, right? Probably? It couldn't hurt to get a new one. And Hikki said it looked good on h-er, well, that's not...anything to do with…

Anyway! Find something for Yukinon! As Yuigahama rummaged through the shelves, she had spotted an adorable kitty mitten that looked just like a cat's paw.

"So cute! This might be really fun if I use this to play with Sabure!" Pulling it on, she also put on the matching dog mitten, complete with an adorable dog face. "It's kinda hard to put on…"

"That's just how mittens are," Hikki replied.

As she looked at the mittens on her hands curiously, Yuigahama suddenly got an impulse. "Take this!" she said as she play-bit Hikki's hand with the dog mitten. "Nom!"

"H-how dare you," Hikki retorted with a reddish tinted face. Yuigahama couldn't help but blush too as she slipped her mittened hand away and took the pair of them off, looking anywhere but at Hikki. Wearing winter gloves inside really made the temperature go up, didn't it?

But Hikki had pointed out that Yukinon might not wear the mittens outside because of the design. Yuigahama concurred, so after a bit of searching, she suggested a pair of indoor cat-themed socks as an alternative. Not only did they look like a cat's legs and feet, they even had a nonskid sole on them that looked like a cat. Since she would wear them inside her house, they didn't have to worry about the design being a problem, so Yuigahama had decided to buy it and they proceeded to check out. With the mittens and cardigan of course.

But then Hikki had needed a gift to give Yukinon. Beginning their search in a store of Yuigahama's recommendation, the pair intended to look around for anything that might catch Yukinon's fancy. But then, it happened. Yuigahama ended up at the fateful spinning rack, covered with products of all shapes and colors, styles and designs: the eyewear exhibit.

Yuigahama had furtively picked out what looked like-in her opinion-a smart-looking pair of glasses. She pulled them on sneakily, then tapped Hikki on the shoulder.

"Hmhm. Do I look smart or what?" Hikki looked at her with his head tilted in confusion for an incredulous second, then replied,

"You're already funny in the head if you're equating glasses to intelligence, you know…"

"Shaddup, you dummy," she had pouted as she went back to spinning the rack about, checking out glasses and designs. Hikki joined her, looking at the various types of glasses on display. Then Yuigahama had the idea.

"Hey, Hikki, you should try one on. Like this one," she said, holding one up to his face.

"Ehhhh…" Hikki hesitated, but Yuigahama forced them into his hand. He sighed regretfully, then turned around as she waited impatiently for him to put them on. After a brief moment-was he psyching himself up or something?-he pushed the glasses up his nose. Unfortunately, it seemed Yuigahama had chosen poorly.

"Totally bad!"

"Oh, shut up."

"Okay, next is… This one!"

"No."

"Don't be such a party pooper. Here!"

Yuigahama had shoved the second pair of glasses into his hand. She had grabbed them on a whim off the shelf, trying to cover for the failure that the last pair of glasses had been. But when he pushed them onto his face and turned around, Yuigahama was struck speechless as her mouth fell open in shock.

His EYES.

They were NORMAL.

She blinked once, convinced it was the glare reflecting off the glasses or some sort of giddy hallucination. Yuigahama didn't remember eating anything strange in the past few days, but there it stood before her, no doubt about it. The dead-fish-eyes boy had no dead fish eyes.

Instead, a healthy-looking pair of round hazel eyes gazed back at her questioningly from behind the frames of the glasses. She lost herself in the soft green-gray orbs, specks of gold dotted intermittently about. In fact, Yuigahama realized as she swallowed with difficulty, Hikki looked unusually…Yuigahama felt herself slowly turning redder.

"Really, cat got your tongue?" Hikki questioned, with a look that wondered if she had anything to say. But with his real eyes, the glance was far softer than usual. Yuigahama almost keeled over at the shy, concerned expression he gave her. But she forced herself to look away from his ador-er, his, um, his eyes, and instead focused on his shoes.

"Ah, no, no, it's nothing. It's just, kinda surprising how good you look with them, maybe." She wrung her hands nervously.

A pause.

"...Gee...thanks," he replied quietly.

In the end, Yuigahama made several purchases that day. She bought the socks and the mittens for Yukinoshita. She bought the cardigan. Because it fit, okay? And finally, she bought that pair of glasses. After she made sure to swipe it covertly while Hikki wasn't looking, she stashed it in her pocket with a knowing look at the cashier and a finger over her upturned lips.

Because maybe someday, she'd tell him what was really behind those glasses.

Maybe someday, that once-in-a-lifetime experience could happen twice.

 **Herro fanfiction readers! ImaNuke here again. I was rereading this wonderful wonderful series again and when I got to this part in volume 10, this idea just popped into my head. Honestly, I love writing one shots for Oregairu. I mean seriously, with these characters, you never run out of fun to be had. Btw, happy (late) birthday to Yukinoshita, who had it on the third of this month. Wow, look at me, wishing fictional characters a happy birthday. No, I'm not a chunni! This white lab coat belongs to my brother's… friend's… uncle's… second cousin! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little drabble. Thanks for reading.**


End file.
